SonosController - looking for beta testers

[mrupp]

Hi there

You might or might not have heard of SonosController, my very first Amiga program (using Hollywood) I released last autumn for OS4 and MorphOS and a bit later version 1.1 also supporting OS 3.x (with fast CPUs) and WarpOS.

In case you'd like to catch up, here are the links to the news including a list of features:

• Version 1.0: https://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2021-08-00009-EN.html
• Version 1.1: https://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2021-09-00068-EN.html

Although I didn't exactly got tons of responses to this, I still kept on developing and am now at the brink of releasing version 1.2 with the following key features:

• support for grouping devices
• support for devices that are being turned off or on
• localization incl. a german catalog that can be used as template to create your own catalog file for your preferred language

But before I release this new version 1.2 to the general public, I'm looking for beta testers to make this thing also works outside the (fire)walls of my own little network.

Would anybody please help me out on this?

Download links

• https://mrupp.ch/betas/SonosController_OS4.lha
• https://mrupp.ch/betas/SonosController_OS3.lha
• https://mrupp.ch/betas/SonosController_OS3fpu.lha
• https://mrupp.ch/betas/SonosController_WOS.lha
• https://mrupp.ch/betas/SonosController_MOS.lha

Well, here are two screenshots of the OS4 version to make a first impression, the app looks accordingly on the other platforms:

Grouping devices:


Volume and muting can be set for each grouped device individually:


Change log

• NEW: support for grouping and ungrouping devices. When grouped, volume and muting can either be set for the whole group or for each device individually.
• NEW: support for devices that suddenly appear or disappear from the Sonos system, for example when turned on or off.
• NEW: timeout for devices to respond can be configured in the Preferences. On slower Amigas it might be necessary to increase the timeout (default is 5s).
• NEW: implemented localization
• NEW: german catalog: feel free to use it as a template to create catalog files for other languages.
• NEW: if no devices can be found by the network scan, it's now enough to add just one single device by its IP address. This one will then be queried to return all the others.
• NEW: added a "Cancel" button to the requester that pops up if the network scan couldn't find anything (requested by Steve Harrison).
• NEW: added a version check of reqtools.library where needed (on AmigaOS 3.x and MorphOS) when adding devices manually and letting the user know, if the version installed is not sufficient (v39 or higher is needed). After confirming with "OK", the URL of the download page on Aminet is automatically opened.
• NEW: displaying the loading's progress when browsing the music library incl. the possibility to cancel it by pressing the [<] button.
• IMPROVED: quicker network scan because now it's enough to find one single device to connect to.
• FIXED: nasty networking bug that caused SonosController to freeze after a while, especially on AmigaOS 3.x.
• FIXED: possible crash when searching something without results, searching some more and going back again.
• FIXED: switching between "Pause" and "Play" sometimes made the button move a pixel.

Important note

• Please note that the OS 3.x version really needs a fast CPU, 060 or a Vampire is recommended. In the Preferences (menu or shortcut RAmiga-P) you can deactivate the loading of the queue and/or album covers to gain some performance.
• Please have look at the requirements as mentioned in the AmigaGuide included in the archives.

Well then, happy testing, please post any reports (bugs, but also if it DOES work for you) here in this thread.

Cheers,
Michael

[mrupp]

No Sonos owners here? None at all??? Or did I post this in the wrong subforum?

[phx]

Not yet. I am looking to replace 4 old regular speakers in our workshop and somebody recommended me Sonos, which would also remove problems with rotten cables.

Then I realized that the current Sonos devices come with Alexa or some Google equivalent installed, and you need an account at Sonos and probably at some stream providers to be able to use it. I don't really like that for privacy reasons.

Otherwise having an Amiga solution to control the speakers is really a great option! As far as I know the protocol is proprietary? Good work!

[mrupp]

New beta 2 uploaded (same links, see above) with the following changes:

• NEW: italian catalog by Samir Hawamdeh. Thanks for this!
• FIXED: MUI 5 column widths in the Music Library browser listview.
• FIXED: as long a no Sonos devices are found, all controls are disabled by default, avoiding possible crashes.
• FIXED: Control menu items are now disabled according to the corresponding buttons.
• FIXED: display of room's names with MUI 4.0

@phx
Thanks for replying, I was already thinking that nobody is interested, at all.

Yes, you'll need a Sonos account. It might work without but I'm not sure. Some speakers support Google Assistant or Alexa, but there are also some that don't (I don't have and want that either). You don't necessarily need some streaming provider if you have your music files in your network (like a NAS or some computer that's running). Or if you'd like to use internet radio, of course.

The protocol I use (directly accessing the speakers in a client-server way) is based on a UPNP standard but the commands themselves are proprietary (I believe). It's basically sending SOAP requests to the speakers and subscribing to their UPNP events.
If you're interested, here's an interesting (unofficial) site about the API: https://svrooij.io/sonos-api-docs/

[mrupp]

Alright, didn't want to wait any longer and have published the new version 1.2. Here's the link to Aminet:
http://aminet.net/search?query=SonosController

Hoping that not too many bugs are still present, fingers crossed ;-)

Cheers,
Michael

[orphan264]

Sonos user here, I love them and couldn't live without them (No Alexa or Google on my speakers either)

Alas, my Amiga 4000 (3.2) is probably not fast enough if you are recommending a '060 or better. I will give it a try though - Thanks for writing a OS3.X version!

[E-Penguin]

I might buy some Sonos speakers purely to be able to control them with an Amiga. Excellent work, especially as a first program!

[mrupp]

Thank you, guys!